The Young Iraqi Behind ‘The Better Facebook’

This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Sajad Saadi has dreams of becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg, the now-seriously wealthy American who helped found Facebook while he was at university.

And to get that particular party started, the 19-year-old from Diwaniyah, has launched his own social media and networking website. It’s called Neproo and, if you look closely, it seems that Saadi’s dream is not as much of a fantasy as one might initially think.

“I planned it very carefully so we would attract the maximum number of users,” says the young man, who has worked on many different digital projects in Iraq.

And, he boasts, he looked carefully at Facebook’s business model so he could avoid any of the pitfalls the now-giant social media site encountered when it first launched.

Neproo, which already has around 100,000 users, also boasts features that Facebook doesn’t have. “For example, on Facebook you cannot tell how many people have visited your page,” Saadi says.

“There is also a counter on each person’s page that gives the most active users added benefits. They can get free gifts from Neproo, things like advertising and logos for their pages. It strengthens their personal brand,” Saadi explains.

The website allows users to post pictures, videos, music and it has a video chat feature, another thing that Facebook doesn’t offer. Perhaps reflecting the fact that Iraqis use Facebook like a giant emporium to buy and sell all manner of goods and services, Neproo also has a feature called “My Shop” where subscribers can trade or promote their goods.